‘Less educated people have less access to TVs – Statistics Botswana

Study by Statistics Botswana shows that televisions and computers are more popular among families led by individuals with tertiary education

TLOTLO KEBINAKGABO

Families headed by individuals with tertiary education had more access to a television than families headed by those with other education levels in 2019, a recent study by Statistics Botswana stipulate.

According to Botswana Household Access to Information and Technology (ICT) 2019 Stats Brief (compiled by Statistics Botswana), 57.7 percent of all households had access to a television, a fall of 2.6 percentage points from the 60.3 percent which was realized in 2014. In terms of actual number of households however, there was an increase of 5.5 percent from the 365,650 households recorded in 2014 to 385,910 households in 2019.

With that, the 2019 Statistics Botswana ICT study revealed that televisions are more popular on families led by individuals with tertiary education. “They constituted 41.1 percent of all households with television access,” the study states. “Households headed by those with secondary education followed with 30.7 percent. The least television access was observed amongst households headed by those with non-formal education, at 2.1 percent of all households with access to television.”

The ICT study further stated that in 2019, more households had access to a laptop computer than a desktop computer. According to the study of all families in Botswana, 21.2 percent of them have access to a laptop. That registered a 13.7 percent increase from 124,766 households recorded in 2014 to 141,821 households in 2019. The study also stated that families headed by heads who have completed tertiary education dominated in household computer access in 2019.

“Families headed by those with tertiary education made up 69.3 percent (98 274) of all households with access to a laptop computer and 67.8 (29 824) percent of those households with access to a desktop computer,” the study shows. “They were followed by household heads with secondary education, the lowest access to a computer was observed amongst households headed by those with non-formal education.”